Training and exercise is in a way a paradoxical science. By training, we break down our muscles, only for them to rebuild themselves stronger. In this way, over time, we become stronger and fitter.

But there’s another side to this coin – break down our muscles or stress the body beyond what it can manage, and we face exhaustion or injury, and getting weaker and more prone to illness when we should be getting healthier and stronger.

Injury happens to us all sometimes, but to prevent yourself ending up at our Bromley sports injury clinic, there are a few guidelines you can follow to stay safe.

Stop when it hurts

When you first start training, or when you’re pushing yourself to improve, it will always “hurt” to some degree. More experienced athletes will know the difference between a “good pain” and a “bad pain”, and be better at recognising the difference between acceptable levels of fatigue and the early warning sign of a more serious injury.

First of all, don’t do heavy workouts on parts of the body that still hurt from the last workout. So don’t plan a long or fast run if your legs are still aching, and don’t plan a big chest (or any other part of the body) workout if those muscles are still sore from the last big workout. If you want to train, try a different area of the body, or switch up your training and do different exercises that are lighter and work the muscles in different ways.

Also, learn to recognise the difference between a muscle ache and an early repetitive injury. Repetitive injuries commonly occur in the soles of your feet (plantar fasciitis), on the bone of your elbow (epicondylitis) or in your knees (patellofemoral pain) but can occur in any part of your body that is subject to the same movement over and over, or on which the force of that movement is concentrated (for example the wrist, elbow and shoulder in racket sports). If you might be developing a repetitive injury then lay off, get some rest and stretching, and try to avoid anything but very gentle exercise until it gets better.

Get Plenty of Sleep

Quality sleep is crucial to effective training and fitness and many top athletes sleep up to 10-12 hours a day. We all know that during sleep the tissues damaged during training can recover and renew, but sleep fulfills many other roles important for our health at the same time. During sleep our hormones are balanced and the mind is also able to heal, benefitting mental health. This allows the body to function in better harmony, and reduces susceptibility to injury. Sleep also allows the body to replenish glycogen stores, ensuring you are ready to perform optimally during subsequent workouts.

Overtraining can be a double-edged sword where sleep is involved, as training too hard can disrupt the quality and quantity of our sleep, causing us to suffer from restlessness and insomnia. Without the quality sleep we need, we don’t wake in the morning as healed as we could be, and if we continue to train at the same intensity we are likely to perform poorly and leave ourselves open to injury.

As hard as it can be, if you find yourself sleeping badly during intense training periods then try to take your foot off the gas and think about your long-term goals rather than simply cranking out your workouts for the week at all costs. To improve your sleep try relaxing before bed, stay properly hydrated and practice good sleep hygiene. If you miss sleep, try to find time to catch up on it. In short, consider sleep as just an important part of achieving your fitness goals as workouts and nutrition.

Periodise Your Training

If you enjoy going through intense periods of training or need to do so to prepare for a certain competition or goal, try balancing it out by periodising your training and creating room for other times where you work out less intensely. This might be as simple as taking a week or two to train only gently after a big event, taking time to rest during the off-season, or a more long-term periodisation plan. 

An annual periodisation plan might mean focusing more on things like flexibility and technique during the off-season, allowing the body to recover fully whilst you work on technical skills which you won’t have time to do when you are actively competing. You can then spend other parts of the year working on fitness, and work them around your most active competing times.

You may want to start by monthly periodisation where you vary your workout schedules week by week. Too many of us go through the same routines every week, which fails to challenge the body in different ways and can leave us bored and tired. Try focusing the heavy work on different parts of the body each week, or if you play a sport then have some weeks where you focus on fitness and others where you focus on skill or technique. This will help keep your training interesting and your body and mind fresh and injury-free.

Getting help

Many sports people benefit from sports massage. You can book a sports massage here at our Bromley Clinic, which will help tired muscles to recover better, help you to be more resilient to injury, or just help you stay in top condition.

If you do find yourself suffering from a sporting injury, we operate a full sports injury clinic service to help you recover as quickly as possible, and get expert advice on rehabilitation, reloading and getting back into your sport safely.

Remember we also offer a free, no-commitment 15 minute chat to give you any advice you need. You can also easily make an appointment at our Bromley Clinic.

You can find us at

Hicks Health
15a Chatterton Rd
Bromley BR2 9QW